Noise and dynamic decision making

Abstract

Dynamic decision-making (DDM) is a cognitive skill where real-time interdependent decisions are made in an environment which is changing, for example for emergency services, firefighting, battlefield, and aircraft operations to name a few. These are all situations where moderate noise is present, yet little is known about its effect on DDM. A series of research studies investigated the effect of 75 dBA broadband noise on performance for a simulated water distribution task that requires constant DDM. The effect of the noise on performance was found to be moderated by workload, sex, and task familiarity. The noise was detrimental to females’ performance at low workload but not at high workload. Males were generally unaffected by noise regardless of the workload level. This suggests that an optimum level of arousal or stimulation may trigger individuals’ effort to maintain performance in stressors. Furthermore, there may be some benefit from moderate broadband noise for individuals experiencing high cognitive workload. Not unexpectedly, increased task familiarity, through increased experience and extended task instructions, helped reduce the negative noise effect, which is consistent with Maximal Adaptability Theory.